Placement Architectures in Practice: An Exploration of Student Learning during Non-Traditional Work-Integrated Learning in Rural Communities

Elyce Green (), Sarah Hyde, Rebecca Barry, Brent Smith, Claire Ellen Seaman and Jayne Lawrence
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Elyce Green: Three Rivers Department of Rural Health, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia
Sarah Hyde: Joint Program in Medicine School of Rural Medicine, Charles Sturt University, Orange, NSW 2800, Australia
Rebecca Barry: Three Rivers Department of Rural Health, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia
Brent Smith: Three Rivers Department of Rural Health, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia
Claire Ellen Seaman: Three Rivers Department of Rural Health, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia
Jayne Lawrence: School of Nursing, Paramedicine and Healthcare Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Dubbo, NSW 2830, Australia

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 24, 1-17

Abstract: Background: Work-integrated learning (WIL) in rural communities provides students with important learning opportunities while also providing a service to those communities. To optimise the potential benefits of work-integrated learning for health students and rural communities it is important to explore the practices and outcomes of these experiences. Methods: This study used a qualitative research design underpinned by the theoretical framework of Theory of Practice Architectures to examine the way students learn during these placements. Purposive sampling was used to identify students for participation in the study. Seven students from the disciplines of paramedicine, physiotherapy, and speech pathology participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Results: The learning described by the students was examined, followed by a critical interrogation of the data to assess how these learnings and associated practices were made possible given the site-specific practice architectures. The findings of the research are represented by three themes: learning affordances related to placement design, learning through relationships between people and professions, and learning through rural embeddedness. Conclusion: Being embedded in rural communities gave the students access to several arrangements that fostered learning, particularly through the sayings, relatings and doings that the students engaged with. This research demonstrates the transformative potential of rural WIL opportunities for learning and future rural practice.

Keywords: work-integrated learning; Theory of Practice Architectures; rural health; clinical placement; allied health; student learning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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